英語四級閱讀練習(xí)附答案-144 偉大的思想家

　　No one can be a great thinker who does not realize that as a thinker it is her first duty to follow her intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. No that it is solely, of chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of thinking is required. One the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of. There have been and many again be great individual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active people. Where any of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended, where there is a tacit convention that principles are not to be disputed: where the discussion of the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannot hope to find that generally high scale of mental activity which has made some periods of history so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from its foundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings.

 

　　She who knows only her own side of the case knows little of that. Her reasons may be food, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if she s equally unable to refute the reasons of the opposite side; if she does not so much as know what they are, she has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgment, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world the side to which she feels the most inclination. Nor is it enough that she should heat the arguments of adversaries from her own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations, That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with her own mind. She must be able to hear them form persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated persons are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess.

　　1. The best title for this passage is

　　[A] The Age of Reason [B] The need for Independent Thinking

　　[C] The Value of Reason [D] Stirring People's Minds

　　2. According to the author, it is always advisable to

　　[A] have opinions which cannot be refuted.

　　[B] adopt the point of view to which one feels the most inclination.

　　[C] be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which one disagrees,

　　[D] suspend heterodox speculation in favor of doctrinaire approaches.

　　3. According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find

　　[A] acceptance of truth [B] controversy over principles

　　[C] inordinate enthusiasm [D] a dread of heterodox speculation

　　4. According to the author, the person who holds orthodox beliefs without examination may be described in all of the following ways EXCEPT as

　　[A] enslaved by tradition [B] less than fully rational

　　[C] determinded on controversy [D] having a closed mind

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements

　　[A] A truly great thinker makes no mistakes.

　　[B] Periods of intellectual achievement are periods of unorthodox reflection,

　　[C] The refutation of accepted ideas can best be provided by one's own teachers.

　　[D] excessive controversy prevents clear thinking.

　　答案詳解

　　1. B. 獨立思考的必要性。見難句譯注1。這里說明進(jìn)行獨立思考的人即使犯錯誤，真理也能從中獲得東西，而那些懶于思考人，即使持有正確的觀點，真理也難以獲得東西。第一段還點明思想禁錮時期，即不能進(jìn)行獨立思考時期，難以討論重大議題，產(chǎn)生不了活躍的人民，絕不會出現(xiàn)像輝煌的文藝復(fù)興那種時期(見第二題注)。第二段也是圍繞獨立思考而寫，只是從具體點著眼：人只知自己，不知對方無法獲得真理，只有獨立思考兩方，才能不為權(quán)威所左右，不會跟著自己感覺走，最終知道自己的真正主張。A. 理性時代。C.駁斥的價值。D. 激發(fā)人民的思想。

　　2. C. 熟悉有利于自己不同意/反對觀點的論點。這是作者在第二段講述的重要論點。他認(rèn)為一個人只知自己一方，推理極好，無人能反駁，卻不知對方的推理，也不能夠予以反駁的話，他就無權(quán)選擇兩方的任一論點，其理智位置是停止判斷。否則她就會(像世界上蕓蕓眾生那樣)不是為權(quán)威所“引導(dǎo)”，就是跟著感覺(的傾向)走。其二，作者提出：光聽自己的老師講述對立面的論點，以及他們所提出的反駁論點。只是不夠的，必須傾聽那些人(他們真正相信對立的觀點)的論點，并為此積極熱情，竭盡全力辯護(hù)，才能使自己的思想和獨立論點接觸，公正的作出公正的判斷。A. 具有不能駁斥的觀點。B. 采取個人感覺最傾向的觀點。 D. 停止有利于教條主義研究的異端思考。

　　3. B. 辯論原則問題。答案在第一段：在思想禁錮的氣氛中，過去，現(xiàn)在可能會產(chǎn)生個別的思想家，但絕不會有思想活躍的人民，在那里有一種心照不宣的慣律：原則決不能討論——認(rèn)為占據(jù)人類心靈的最重大問題的討論應(yīng)封閉，我們不能期望看到一般高級的思想活動。這種思想活動曾使歷史上某些時期光輝燦爛。而文藝復(fù)興就是思想活動的頂峰時期，必然會討論原則問題，所以選B 。A. 接受真理，周經(jīng)過討論才能接受真理。C. 過度的熱情。 D. 害怕異端思考。

　　4. C. 在辯論上，堅定不移。這是一道推斷題，一般講：持有未經(jīng)檢驗的正統(tǒng)信仰的人不會獨立思考，更不會懷疑他所信仰的東西。A. 為傳統(tǒng)所奴役。B. 不怎么理智。D. 頭腦閉塞。這種人必然受傳統(tǒng)思想控制，不理智更不愿接受外界新鮮事物。

　　5. B. 在思想方面取得成就的時期就是進(jìn)行非正統(tǒng)反思的時期。見3題注釋。A. 一個真正的思想家不犯錯誤。C. 一個人的老師最能提供所接受思想觀點的反駁。D. 過度的辯論會制止清晰的思考。